Motor vehicles in general, and automobiles in particular are frequently equipped with electric window regulators capable of "remotely" opening and closing passenger windows with merely the pressing of a button actuated switch, instead of conventional "crank-up" manual operation. It is also commonplace to provide vehicles, such as automobiles, with power lock devices which are usually electrically actuated and serve to "lock up" or release all of the door lock mechanisms of a so-equipped motor vehicle. Furthermore, it is frequent practice for the operator (driver) of these kind of power lock and power window equipped vehicles to ride about with all of the doors locked and all of the windows rolled-up, particularly when the vehicle is air conditioned or the weather is bad. In fact, it is desirable to keep the windows tightly closed to reduce noise at highway speeds and also maintain locked doors to keep down the possibility for "carjacking" (forced car theft) or acts of crime in a high crime area, such as an inner-city setting.
When a collision accident occurs, the tightly locked and window sealed vehicle is virtually a pyre for anyone trapped inside if a vehicle fire occurs. If the vehicle's passenger is stunned or partially injured each moment lost in not gaining quick egress from the vehicle can potentially lead to that passenger's more severe injury or death.
Even a stunned or confused passenger might be able to grapple for a door handle and get out of a damaged vehicle. However, if the doors are preset to be inoperative from inside (e.g., "child protection locks") or the windows are set to be inoperative by a driver controlled lockout switch, there is little opportunity left for self-enabled egress by a disoriented victim.
When help eventually arrives at the scene of an accident, whether it is a layperson, a law enforcement officer or a trained medical person, it becomes imperative that an injured passenger can be quickly accessible and removable from the vehicle, particularly if a threat of fire or likelihood for explosion exists. It is also important that the passenger be given quick medical attention without the encumberance of acheiving forced entry into the vehicle, for as is well known, every second can often make a difference for the injured passenger.
Vehicles are frequently equipped with "air-bag" passenger restraint systems for the operator (driver) position and sometimes one or more passenger positions. Deployment of the air-bag device is ordinarily acheived by a variety of impact or collision sensors that measure deceleration, impact and other factors and the operation of which are well known in the art. It is the purpose of these sensors to produce a collision signal which detonates the explosive charge (or whatever other means might be elected by a designer) to splay the air bag protective device.
It is therefore feasible to take the collision signal produced by the air-bag system sensors or by other sensors operating on similar well known principles and thereby develop an "egression signal". Oftimes it is preferable that this egression signal be produced by separate sensors which are substantially more sensitive than the sensors ordinarily utilized for airbag deployment in order to enable the advantages of my invention to beneficially operate even in less severe accident situations wherein the airbag deployment might not necessarily occur. It is therefore the purpose of the egression signal producing system to respond to any substantive emergency condition involving the vehicle and provide for immediate unlocking of all otherwise locked vehicle doors and to simultaneously open (e.g., roll-down) all of the vehicle's closed windows. As a result of this automatic action, a maximal provision for immediate egress or access is provided whereby a passenger may quickly get out of a damaged vehicle, for example through the automatically opened window wherein the door may otherwise be jammed perchance when it is resting on an object such as a rock, curbing or another vehicle.
The immediate and automatic opening of otherwise closed windows and releasing of door locks also enables police, medical personnel or even laypersons quick access into a wrecked vehicle in order to quickly aid or even remove the accident victim. This ability for quick action is of particular importance when the vehicle shows a likelihood for fire, explosion or further damage from falling objects or being struck by other vehicles.